Weekly planning...

I sometimes feel ambitious ;)
So today I wrote out next week's schedule for Micaela and Nathaniel which can be viewed here. What do you think? Micaela is in first and Nathaniel is doing K4 (he'll do K5 next year). I love these charts because I can fill them out the week before, and the kids and I both love making sure we get it all done. Each day they choose a different color highlighter to highlight their assignments, and by the end of the week every square (with writing) should be colored. Using the highlighter is a motivating privilege!

Also, I changed my email again- MWAH HA HA HAAA :) I now have a fairly anonymous email address which I'm very happy about.

This week we're beginning to study Rome, the life of Christ, and the early church. I'm excited!

The embryo that is me...

Last Tuesday we read in science that a bean is a seed, and a seed is the embryo of a plant, just like you were an embryo in your mommy's tummy. Yesterday (three days later), I told Nathaniel to "draw a picture of a seed that is you; color it the color that you would like to be if you were a seed, and tell me about the kind of plant you would be if you were a baby seed." I should have stuck to the more specific script in the book- "Design your own testa," but if I had I might not have received this wonderfull picture of "the embryo that is me that was in your tummy." Yes, that is me with the Nathaniel embryo in my tummy! How can you save a construction paper drawing forever?

Mixing Metaphors?

For a long time now, Gabriel has been saying "my tummy wants more..."
"My tummy wants more food."
"My tummy wants to go outside."
"My tummy wants to watch a movie."
"My tummy wants to go to the hamburger store."

This saying has been getting progressively whinier; so whiney, in fact, that I have begun to make him rephrase his wishes without the tummy part (or the whiney tone). This morning I was greeted with "Momma, I'm starving for a movie."

my new address

I have had a new email address for a little over a year now. This is my final notification :) I will no longer check my old address as I am receiving some really nasty spam. After 90 days, it should hopefully close. So Maxine and Michelle and Micaela's ballet teacher who I'm sure will never read this :) - change your address books! I will attempt to check the old account in January just to see if it's gone :)

a not exactly productive day...

This week we invested in a library card from the downtown library in the city where Ian works. It costs money for us because it's in another state, but it's soooo much bigger- i.e., it has so many more resources! I searched for a few books to complement our history outline and found a ton. Ian brought several that I asked for as well as a child's film on the artist Edgar Degas. I'm so pleased to be able to use this resource.
However... I have a confession. I CAN'T SEEM TO CLOSE A BOOK AFTER I'VE OPENED IT! This morning I let them watch the Degas film twice (and a kids' music video once) so that I could finish a book on Alexander the Great (from the picture online I assumed it was a child's picture book) before school. I started it Tuesday and couldn't finish Wednesday because of an errand. Last night, I stayed up late talking to Ian about important stuff (I felt guilty trying to read because it was important), so this morning under the 'pretense' of starting laundry, I got up at four and read. I finished the book by 11:30 and was able to cook lunch and finish most of our lesson plans today. But I didn't do anything else- except those three early morning loads of laundry. By 3:00, I was a zombie!
I used to do this as a child too. I'd sneak away and avoid all contact with people while I was absorbed in a book. It's slightly amusing and very frustrating. I MUST learn to limit my reading time so that I can be a responsible member of my family. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Why can't we all just be happy to go hungry while momma reads a story?

Am I the only person who has this problem? I'm so convicted right now I'm just going to say it was a lack of self-control. Since I can't govern myself, I'll have to swear off anything but the kids' school books and the Bible for a month. I know that's not the answer, but what is?

Where has the summer gone?

Since my last post, we have knocked down the wall to the garage and added five rooms to the house (well, when it's done we'll have added five rooms); Elizabeth has grown into a rolly polly, noisy five month old; Asher has begun to speak as plainly as Gabe; Gabriel has discovered a preference for wearing swim trunks (because then he doesn't have to wear underwear); Nathaniel has learned to write his name, count to ten unassisted, and has turned five; while Micaela has learned to find passages of scripture on her own. We've also had Nathaniel and Asher's birthday party- a pinebox derby in our backyard! The summer flowers have come and mostly gone without any attention from us. Our garden produced pitifully from lack of attention- but we have five new rooms, a new fence, a new septic tank, a smooth derby track to donate to our church Awanas, and a new baby, so we weren't exactly lazy :) I've thrown a bridal shower for one sister and seen another get married. And finally, we've done three weeks of school.

I've decided I can't go this long without updating. I miss recording all the sweet and funny things they do- as well as all the stinky rotten messes they make :) I've been disappointed because I don't have that many photos to share, but I need to journal anyway, so that we won't forget. I'll add pictures later when it's not so frustrating.

Anyway, where we are now...
Micaela is a couple of weeks away from finishing our second grade grammar book. When she's done we will take a few weeks to review the definitions of and uses of the parts of speech, and then we'll begin English for the Thoughtful Child (because I have it). She's doing scripture searches, handwriting, and spelling daily. She's covering 1st grade math again using Math U See, and I can see that she's doing better remembering facts. She completes her own assignment chart daily which I think is great!

Nathaniel is steadily working through the Rod and Staff Preschool ABC series; he does handwriting and phonics work daily, and he's working in the Math U See Primer. Nathaniel is meticulous. His handwriting (tracing) is almost always smooth and neat, and when he finally wrote his name for the very first time, it was completely legible. He did it by himself, and then brought it to me. I was so impressed! Nathaniel also colors daily. He's attempting to color every single page in every coloring book we have- yes, he goes in order. Everything he does takes FOREVER, but it's done pretty well!

We are studying botany (the Young Explorer's series) and currently doing experiments in a light hut. We are also using Tapestry of Grace. We picked up history where we left off last spring when Elizabeth was new and the wall coming down made such a mess. This week we're learning about Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic age, and Hanukkah (Year One, Unit 3 Week 27). We are loving all the books which I'm reading aloud to Nathaniel and Gabriel AFTER Micaela has read them. She likes to "sneak into the history books." We also love all the craft ideas which I'm happy to say I'm actually using! Also I love the ease of switching between levels. Sometimes Micaela does the Upper Grammar level because I think she'd enjoy it, and it's so nice that it's available for use without having to think much about it. I also love all the background information for the teacher.

We have settled nicely into a routine. Get up, get dressed, clean room (kitchen for me), eat breakfast, clean up, and start school between 7:30 and 8:30. I thought logging 4 and 1/2 hours honestly would be difficult with a kindergartner and a first grader, but it's really easy. We've been cleaning up school fairly consistently around 2:30 (sometimes later for Micaela because she likes to dilly dally). Then they play or watch a movie while I rest a little before I make dinner. I guess I'm still tired from having Elizabeth, but for whatever reason- I just can't make it through the day if I don't rest.

Well that's enough for today, I've got to run now because breakfast, rooms, and school are all late already!